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National Archives Selects IBM To Maintain Electronic Records Archives

On September 29, the National Archives and Records Administration announced that it has selected IBM to provide operations and maintenance of the Electronic Records Archives system (ERA).

This award represents the achievement of a goal established by the Archivist of the United States and is consistent with guidance from the Office of Management and Budget to conclude development of the ERA System by the end of September 2011.

ERA is designed to receive, preserve, and provide access to the permanently-valuable electronic records created by the Federal government. Deployed in five increments, ERA has multiple instances to handle the unique needs of electronic records from Federal agencies, Presidential Administrations, and the U.S. Congress.

As a central part of the National Archives mission to provide access to records documenting the actions of the Federal government, the ERA system has an Online Public Access component to make these electronic records searchable and accessible to the general public.

The contract award is for one base year with nine one-year options. Performance of the contract will take place in Gaithersburg and College Park, Maryland and Rocket Center, West Virginia.

Read entire article at Lee White at the National Coalition for History